


Bookworm

by shiny_glor_chan



Category: Black Dagger Brotherhood - J. R. Ward
Genre: 7rainbowprompts: violet set, Community: 7rainbowprompts, First Meetings, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-13
Updated: 2008-07-13
Packaged: 2017-11-28 02:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/669300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiny_glor_chan/pseuds/shiny_glor_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Qhuinn and Blay are best buds. How did they meet?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bookworm

**Author's Note:**

> For once, no real spoilers. I'm amazed at myself! There's cursing, but I knew these words at nine, so it's okay. Some Romeo and Juliet snuck in, no matter how much I tried to fight it. 
> 
> Prompt: #1 Books (violet set)

The first time Blay met Qhuinn, he wasn't really paying attention to him. Most, knowing what they know now, would think that was impossible. Those two were completely inseparable since they were nine. Everyone knew this, and if they didn't, they could see it. They were obviously best friends with no one closer, except when they made friends with John Matthew.

So why wasn't nine year old Blaylock paying attention to Qhuinn? Blay's answer was that he just didn't see him. Qhuinn's answer would be the bookworm was burrowed so deep into a book that he _wouldn't_ see anything else.

Not being paid attention to was not something that sat well with Qhuinn. When he was nine, he was just noticing his family hardly gave a damn to what happened to him, so he decided he needed to _do_ things to be _seen_. At first, it didn't work with Blay, and that just made Qhuinn more determined. His family wasn't paying attention; the other adults weren't paying attention, so making friends with the only other boy his age other than Lash - god he hated his cousin - seemed like a good idea.

Except, Qhuinn couldn't get the redhead's attention. He had tried introducing himself, but halfway through, he noticed the kid hadn't heard him. Qhuinn made a bit of noise by whistling and snapping his fingers, but that had failed as well. He had wanted to snatch the book from the boy's hands at this point, but his cousin beat him to it.

"Hey!" the redhead exclaimed unhappily. "I was reading that!"

Lash sneered, a look that really shouldn't have been on the cute face of a boy his age. "Well, now you're not," he replied, flipping through the pages, thoroughly losing the redhead's place in the book. "Romeo and Juliet? Hey, listen to this! _Well, peace be with you, sir. Here comes my man._ How gay is that?"

The redheaded boy blushed as red his roots before trying to snatch the book back angrily. "It's not _gay_ ; it's Shakespeare!" he exclaimed angrily.

"Isn't Shakespeare that stuff where all the guys wear tights?" Qhuinn questioned curiously before noticing his mistake; he had given Lash more ammunition to use against the bookworm.

Lash started laughing, loudly and obnoxiously, the book still in his hand. "Really? Are you into that kinda thing, kid?" Lash asked with another sneer, gesturing with the book. "Will you be someone's man, hm? Like these gay characters?"

The redhead glared at Lash defiantly, but although all three boys were pre-trans, the redhead seemed the smallest, and least likely to be able to defend himself if Lash decided he wanted to brawl. Qhuinn snatched the book from Lash's hand and pushed him away. "Hey, leave him alone, Lash. You're just being an ass because you'd never understand Shakespeare even if he were alive to explain it to you."

Lash growled, stepping forward, in Qhuinn's face. "Oh yeah?"

Qhuinn stuck his nose in the air, mismatched eye glittering, looking like he was itching to hit his cousin. "Yeah."

" _We talk here in the public haunt of men. Either withdraw unto some private place, or reason coldly of your grievances, or else depart. Here all eyes gaze on us,_ " the redhead spoke up, quoting the book perfectly.

Lash raised an eyebrow before laughing again. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means we're in public, and people are watching us, so stop being an ass, or we're gonna have to take this outside," Qhuinn answered with a grin of his own, glancing back at the redhead who was wearing a small smile as well.

Lash scoffed, before noticing his parents' eyes on him. "This isn't over; I won't forget this!" he growled before stalking over to his parents, a fake pleasant smile plastered on his face.

Once Lash was gone and out of earshot, both boys doubled over with laughter. Qhuinn straightened up first, handing the book back to its rightful owner. "Thanks," the boy muttered shyly. "My name's Blaylock, what's yours?"

Qhuinn grinned widely. "The name's Qhuinn. Nice to meet ya, Blay," he said with an over the top bow.

Blay laughed. "You know, you're a lot like a character in this book," he said, holding up the book.

Qhuinn tilted his head to the side curiously. "Really? Who?"

"Mercutio. He's quite the character, actually."

Qhuinn pulled out a seat at the table Blay had been sitting at and sat on it backwards. "Tell me about him, then, good sir."

Blay laughed. "If you're trying to act Shakespearean, you're failing, badly," he said with another chuckle as he took a seat next to Qhuinn.

Qhuinn put a hand to his heart as if wounded, being a tad dramatic about a fake pain. "You wound me, young page!" he exclaimed, leaning back like he could fall off the chair at any moment.

Blay shook his head, grinning ear to ear. "You're still doing it wrong, but you're really like Mercutio! A total drama queen."

"Hey! I resent that!" Qhuinn jumped up from his chair. "I prefer the term drama _king_."

Blay covered his face with his hands, laughing. He looked up at Qhuinn with his bright blue eyes. "I don't think I'm ever going to be rid of you now, am I?"

Qhuinn shook his head with a huge grin. "Never."


End file.
